Another round-up of new products, plus news from the world of hi-tech music.

It's flexible, it's powerful, and it comes with a pretty hefty price tag. Paul White finds out whether Ensoniq's first foray into the world of stand-alone effects delivers enough bang for the buck. Additional research by Derek Johnson.

Passport's proven Master Tracks Pro sequencer now runs under Windows on the PC. Brian Heywood puts the latest version through its paces.

Instrumental music doesn't sell, the UK dance scene is totally bereft of life, and dance bands never produce decent albums. Wrong, wrong, wrong — and 808 State are back with proof. Nigel Humberstone talked to Manchester's finest during the recording of Gorgeous, their third album.

The multitrack cassette recorder provides an excellent platform for learning the essential skills of multitrack recording. David Mellor explains how to get the best out of them.

Few Cubase users take full advantage of its powerful MIDI Mixer module — daunted by its apparent complexity, they pass up the chance to exploit a powerful and flexible MIDI control tool. Ofir Gal presents a practical 2-part guide to customising and using the MIDI Mixer.

Yamaha's new SY85 eschews FM technology and instead concentrates entirely on powerful sample-based synthesis. Derek Johnson finds that user sampling, powerful filters, and 'easy edit' sliders are just a few of the tricks that make this far more than just another sample-based workstation.

This month, we go ever deeper into the mind of that unfathomable entity, the drummer...

With the predominance of the workstation synth, and the rise and rise of essentially preset instruments, what has become of the 'traditional' synthesizer? Paul Hazel turns the spotlight on Roland's JD800 and Korg's Wavestation, two recent instruments which answer the question — but in very different ways.

More Atari news and tips from Martin Russ.

Kendall Wrightson on new hardware from Apple.

Brian Heywood looks at a UK-designed PC-based hard disk recorder.

Paul Austin reports on a low-cost direct-to-disk recording board for the Amiga.

Philips hope that their new cassette-based DCC format will succeed where DAT failed — becoming the new consumer digital recording medium. Derek Johnson evaluates the world's first first DCC recorder.

This popular auto-accompaniment program is gaining in features and sophistication with every upgrade. Martin Russ plays with himself...

Your letters, tips, and comments.

Wilf Smarties takes another new sample CD for a spin.

This month, helpful hints for users of Steinberg and Dr. T's software.

Even the most advanced of today's hi-tech instruments contain mechanical components that are prone to failure. The trick is to ensure that they just outlast the product to which they're fitted...